Explosive
by strawberrymacchiato
Summary: AU. For Quinn, being the daughter of mafia leader Rosario Fabray meant three things: one- be loyal to the code. Two-never reveal the code to others. And three-never fall in love.


For as long as she could remember, she had been on the run.

Even in her dreams, men in dark suits wielding snipers would doggedly chase after her, threatening to wipe out her brother and her mother, or to slit her throat like her prick of a father had done to their families. Rosario had a reputation for his dirty work, and that had been one of the reasons they had relocated from Brooklyn. She turned over onto her stomach, burying her head into her pillow.

Maybe Normandy would be different. Maybe she could have a normal life here, without hearing the sound of blood-curdling screams each night, or constantly being on the lookout for stalkers. She was sick of it. All she wanted was to be an ordinary high school girl_._

"Rise and shine, sweetheart."

Shit, was it 6am already? Rosario's silver hair disappeared from the doorway, and he continued to walk down the musty corridor, a spring in his step.

He was a good dad, really. Without him, she'd never have been able to defend herself from that thug on her first day of elementary school. It had been Rosario who had first taught her how to use a firearm. She could still remember the cold feeling of metal against her fingers; how the smoke billowed out of the weapon as the man dropped to the ground like deadweight. Only the faint trickle of crimson on his shirt indicated there was something wrong. It had been a clean kill.

Any normal person would have felt a strain on their conscience, or some sense of immoralilty. But not Quinn. She wasn't 'normal' in any sense of the word. She had learned to suppress any form of empathy long, long ago. Instead, ever since that day, her .44 magnum revolver had been her favourite firearm.

Slipping out from underneath the sheets, she pulled on a loosely fitting sundress and slipped into her old leather boots, making sure her magnum was fully loaded. It was her first day at school, and one could never be too careful. She climbed down the old stairs and made her way to the kitchen, where her mother and brother had already started breakfast. Lucky for her, it was her favourite meal. Fat and greasy, deep fried-

"Quinn, we're in _France _now," Judy scolded, "if you keep eating that much bacon you'll-"

"-Get fat and not fit into any of the clothing." She quipped.

"I think she looks cute fat."

"Shut up, Warren."

Her brother smirked, and went back to eating his breakfast.

"I don't want the two of you getting into any trouble again." Judy continued, unfazed. "Your father and I had to fake school records in order to get you into this place, so if you blow it he's not going to be too happy. Remember, we're the 'Blake' family here. And if anyone starts getting too nosy, you tell them we're from the U.S. and your dad's here on a business trip. Got it?"

They both nodded.

"Got it."

* * *

**Scene: Some back-alley in Normandy**

"Swear it on your mother's grave, you bastard!"

"I swear!"

The man barely choked out. Even still, Rosario's grip tightened, and he leaned in menacingly.

"You know what I do to to lying schmucks like you?"

Eyes not straying from the other man, he pulled out a rusty dagger and pushed the tip against his neck.

"I end 'em." He warned.

"Rosy, t-take it easy, we're brothers! I got your back, you know I'd never snitch."

"Is that so, Angelo? Because last time I checked, there weren't supposed to be no wiseacres hangin' round in cars near my house!"

"I-I don't know what you're talking about."

"Like hell you don't!" He yelled, yanking on Angelo's collar, "You broke the code, didn't you?"

Angelo winced as the tip pressed more firmly against his neck, and shook his head, beads of sweat pouring down his face.

"_Didn't _you?"

Rosario's eyes narrowed, a vicious snarl forming around his mouth. But once again, Angelo just shook his head.

"I would never b-betray you. I swear it." He said, stammering. "On my mother's grave."

At that, Rosario loosened his grip, and shoved him against the wall.

"Alright." He said, eyeing him up and down, "I believe you." Angelo's sigh of relief was almost visible.

"But if I find out you were lying to me, and I _will _find out-I'm comin' to get you. Do you hear me?"

The man nodded.

"I got my family at stake here, and I need people I can trust."

Angelo kept nodding profusely, but in the split second Rosario looked away, his lips curved upward.

* * *

It's wasn't that Quinn didn't enjoy learning, but she had changed that many schools in her life that she found it difficult to get adjusted. The teachers called her behaviour 'anti-social', and 'disruptive'. But Quinn honestly couldn't see how setting another girl's hair on fire was 'disruptive' when _she _had been the one who tried to cheat by copying her test paper. The bitch.

"Good morning, class. Today we're being joined by a new student! I want you all to make her feel very welcome." The newest pushover said with a thick, French accent, before turning to Quinn. "Queen, how about you tell us all a little bit about yourself?"

"It's _Quinn." _She said, eyes narrowing just like her father's would, and she turned to face the class.

"Bonjour. I'm Quinn Blake, an exchange student from the U.S. I don't know much French, but I look forward to learning some during my stay." She said indifferently. "I like cheerleading, and reading boo-"

A quiet giggle erupted from a few rows down. Quinn stopped, and her eyes searched for the source of the sound without success. She cleared her throat.

"I like cheerleadin-"

There it was again, and much more vocal this time. Quinn felt her temper begin to rise. Eventually she spotted a petite girl with brown wavy hair, who by now couldn't contain herself from laughter.

"What's so funny, smartass?"

The girl stopped laughing and zeroed in on Quinn, suddenly serious.

"Well if you must know, I think cheerleading is as _ridiculous_ as the peroxide in your hair."

"_Excuse _me?" Quinn said, bewildered momentarily. "Did you wanna say that again, frog?"

"Queen," The teacher-who obviously had the memory span of a goldfish-cut in, "That's not really appropriate behaviour. I'm sure Miss Berri didn't really mean what she said. Isn't that right, Rachel?"

The brunette girl smiled sarcastically, and Quinn felt like spewing.

"Of course, Mrs. Batiste."

"Wonderful. Now Queen, there's a spare seat over there next to Mr. Anderson." Goldfish said, and pointed to a boy with dark, curly hair.

Quinn begrudgingly made her way over, shooting icy looks towards the brunette. What was her name again?

"Ok everyone, today we're going to be learning about the definite article. Please open up your textbooks to page 73."

She watched her flipping the pages over with a smug expression on her face, basking in the satisfaction of getting away with it. Quinn flexed her arms out on her desk, and smiled wickedly. This wasn't over by a long shot.

"Alright. Can anybody tell me what this means?"

Immediately, the brunette's hand shot up, waving around for attention.

"Yes, Miss Berri?"

_Berri. _That was it.

"The dog is small." She provided. "However, if you chose to use 'les' in front of chien then the noun would become pluralised, meaning the _dogs._"

"Very good, as always. What about this one...erm, let's see, Miss Blake?"

Quinn pushed down the bile that kept threatening to come up because of that obnoxious _Berri _girl, and frowned, suddenly feeling put on the spot.

"I don't know." She admitted, tensing when she heard a quiet giggle coming from nearby.

"That's alright, it's your first day-I just wanted you to feel part of the class." Goldfish went on, obliviously. "Mr. Puquerman?"

Quinn's gaze unconsciously travelled over to the brunette's desk, and landed on a small piece of paper she was writing. A smile was playing about her face, and in one quick motion, she folded up the paper and handed it to the girl sitting next to her.

"Pass it down, Santine." She whispered, giving Quinn a brief look.

Quinn watched, confused as to what was going on. Until, that is, the note reached her desk, and she felt the curly haired boy sitting next to her give her a nudge.

"Open it."

Quinn didn't like the glimmer in his eyes, but she unfolded the note, flattening it out carefully.

"_Dumb blonde._"

Her eyes immediately shot up to find the brunette, who was laughing silently with Santine. Suddenly, Quinn found herself seething. It was because of girls like _that _that she found herself in trouble all the time. She felt her hand slip down into her boots, and gently tap her magnum. She knew that she could end this quickly. All she needed was to get Berri alone and-

"Well, there goes the bell already!" Goldfish sighed, and pulled her attention away from the whiteboard. "Make sure you complete the exercises on page 80 for homework, yes? See you all next time."

Quinn shook her head, brushing off those thoughts. She wasn't supposed to stuff it up this time-her mother had made that very clear. And if that meant delaying Berri's murder for a little longer, then so be it. She got out of her seat and gathered her books, ready to leave for her next class when she felt someone step in her path.

"Hi, I don't think we were properly introduced before."

The sickeningly familiar voice said, and Quinn glanced upward to see the brunette-who was a good deal shorter than her-sticking out her hand. She could take her out easily.

"My name's Rachel, and I'm the head of the choir at this school, so no one messes around with me. I just wanted to make that clear."

Quinn scowled, not moving her hand an inch. Rachel smiled.

"Typical American, no manners." She said, shaking her head. Quinn bit her lip, holding back her fury, and tried to push past her. But Rachel grabbed her arm, and looked at her directly in the eyes, without a trace of fear.

"But I like your attitude. I think the choir could use someone like you. That is, unless, you're too _chicken_ to try out."

Quinn stared back, thoroughly perplexed by the sudden shift in Rachel's mood. Out of all the schools she had been to so far, this was shaping up to be the strangest of them all.

"Auditions start in two days, if you're interested. If not, then stay out of my way, would you?"

She said, as she swivelled around and joined Santine and some other girls, and exited the room.

Quinn stood there, just taking it all in, and took a big, deep breath.

"I'm gonna kill that girl."


End file.
